Easels for holding cards, photographs, or the like



Jan. 5, 1960 A. B. M DONALD 2,919,512

EASELS FOR HOLDING CARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, OR THE LIKE Filed July 21. 1953FOR HOLDING CARDS, PHOTOGRAPHS,

OR THE LIKE Alexander B. McDonald, Chicago, 111.; Dorothy K. Higgins,administratrix of said Alexander B. McDonald, deceased Application July21, 1953,- Serial No. 369,351 i Claims. c1. 40-1524 cording to'thepresent invention, this has been accomiplishedwith a surprising degreeof simplicity and at extremely; low cost. In its simplest form, the mainbody of the holder comprises merely a sheet of plastic material, foldedin along both of its long edges, so that the photo- ;graph can beslipped in under the folded flanges and thus,

attractivelyexposed through the opposite face of the plastic. ..The propcompleting the easel may be simply asquare of sheet material, such ascardboard or stiff paper, which is also slid under the flanges, butwhich has folded out from it a tongue forming a rear leg or prop forthe-holder.- Because the piece from which this prop is folded is square,it may be slid under the flanges with the fold by which the tongue ishinged parallel either to the long sides of the body of the holder orparallel to the short sides of the body of the holder. Thus, simply byselecting the edge of the prop insert which is first inserted under theflanges, the device may be arranged as an easel, with either the long orshort side of the display holder uppermost.

One of the many examples in which this simplified adaptable easel can beused is for Christmas cards. It would lend itself to the growingpractice of arranging Christmas cards on display, preferably supportedfor easy viewing. After the Christmas season, the card could be removedand the holder would then become a small gift for the receiver of thecard, to be used for snapshots or any other material the receiver mightdesire. Also, a photographic shop, selling photographic Christmas cards,could have a supply of these holders, which could be used with either avertically-arranged or a horizontallyarranged photographic Christmascard. An organization whose business is distributing inspirational cardscould supply only one of these holders for a variety of cards, theholder being readily adapted for a particular card, whether it bearranged for horizontal display or for vertical display.

Additional objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription and from the drawings.

Designation of figures Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, perspective andrear views of the form of the invention chosen for illustration,arranged for vertically-disposed matter.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are, respectively, rear, end, and rear perspectiveviews of the same form of the invention but arranged for displayed ofhorizontally-disposed matter.

Although the law requires a full and exact description of at least oneform of the invention, such as that which follows, it is, of course, onepurpose of a patent to cover each new inventive concept therein nomatter how it may later be disguised by variations in form or additionsof further improvements; and the appended claims are in- Un ti d tate Pe 0."

2,919,512 Patented Jan. 5, 1960 ice tended to accomplish this purpose byparticularly pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations inwhich the inventive concepts are found.

The illustrated form of easel may comprise only two parts, namely, aholder body 11 and a prop insert 12. The holder body 11 may be a sheetof clear plastic, typified by celluloid, having an uninterrupted frontface 13 and rear flanges 14, which are integral parts of the same sheetand folded along the long edges of the face 13. This is a known type ofholder or cover, in which the piece 15 to be held or displayed is simplyslipped under the flanges 14 with its face exposed through the plasticface 13. Preferably the flanges 14 are folded tightly enough so that anyinserted matter is gripped between the flanges and the face.

According to the present invention, a prop insert 12 is also slid underthe flanges 14, this prop insert being of approximately squaredimensions, so that it may be inserted either as shown in Fig. 2 or asshown in Fig. 3. When it is inserted as shown in Fig. 2, its tongue 17,which may also be called a leg or a prop, will fold out about a line orhinge fold 18 parallel to a short end of holder 11 so as to support theholder approximately as seen in Fig. 1.

With the prop insert 12 inserted beneath the flanges 14 as shown in Fig.3, the prop 17 folds out about its hinge fold 18 which is parallel to along side of holder 11, so that the holder may be supported as seen inFig. 5. The free end of the prop may initially he slid under the lowerflange 14 for shipping or not, according to individual preference. Ifthe prop insert 12 is of a moderately sti'n paper board or cardboard,the prop 17 may be flexed sufliciently to spring out from under theflange 14 when use for supporting the easel is desired. The prop insert12, if made of heavy plastic sheets, will function equally well and bemore attractive.

' Although achievement of the utmost simplicity and economy ofmanufacture is.at the heart of this invention, some other forms ofdisplay easels, perhaps of less perfect simplicity, may make use of theinventive concept of adaptability for end-up or side-up display bychoice of insertion of a square prop insert. For example, the grooves orslideways formed by the flanges 14 could be formed in any other way. Inthat event, the main holder body 11 might be of quite a differentnature.- These could, for example, comprise a wooden frame with slotsfor receiving the insert 12 cut therein or with flanges forming theslots secured to the frame. Likewise, the prop insert might be of a lesssimple form, perhaps havinga rigid or rigidly-adjusted prop.

From the foregoing, it is seen that an attractive easeltype holder isprovided in a form which can be of very low cost and which willnevertheless be readily adaptable for mounting with either a long sideup or a short side up.

I claim:

1. An easel-type display holder, including a holder body formed oftransparent sheet material having opposite edge portions folded over toform slideway flanges, the length of the sheet along the folds formingthe flanges being greater than the width of the sheet between theflanges, and a prop insert, including a prop tongue joined thereto by ahinge fold, the extreme dimensions of the prop insert, both parallel tothe hinge fold and perpendicular thereto, being appropriate for slidingin the slideway formed by the slideway flanges, the holder body beingconstructed to receive the bottom of the prop insert as close to its endas to its side to locate the prop similarly with respect to the bottomof the body whether the bottom is a short-side or a long side.

2. An easel-type display holder, including a holder body longer in oneface dimension than in the face dimension perpendicular thereto, andhaving opposed slide- Ways on its rear face, the slots of which extendparallel to the longer dimension, and a prop insert having a prop memberextending therefrom and of dimensions adapted to slide into the slidewaywith two dispositions,

one with the prop member disposed for propping the holder base with thelong side uppermost and theother with the prop member disposedforpro-pping' the holder base with the short side uppermost, the holderbody being constructed to receive the bottom of the prop insert as closeto its end as to its side to locate the prop similarly with respect tothe bottom of the body Whether the bottom is a short side or a longside.

3. An easel-type display holder, including a holder body longer in oneface dimension than in the face dimension perpendicular thereto, andhaving opposed slideways on its rear face and a prop insert having aprop member extending therefrom and of dimensions adapted to slide intothe slideway with two dispositions, one with the prop member disposedfor propping the holder base with the long side uppermost, and the otherwith the prop member disposed for propping the holder base with theshort side uppermost, the holder body being constructed to receive thebottom of the prop insert as close to its end as to its side to locatethe prop similarly with respect to the bottom of the body whether thebottom is a short side or a long side.

4. An easel-type display holder, including a holder body longer in oneface dimension than in the face dimension perpendicular thereto, andhaving flanges forming opposed slideways on its rear face, the slots ofwhich extend parallel to the longer dimension, and a prop insert in theslots having an insert base and a prop member extending therefrom, thebase including four corner portions representing the extreme dimensionsof body portions, both parallel to the bottom of the prop member and inthe perpendicular direction, with the spacing of each corner from bothcorners adjacent thereto being greater than the distance between theedge of one flange and the deepest part of the opposite slideway and nogreater than the distance between the deepest parts of the slideways,whereby the base is adapted to slide into the slideway'with twodispositions,

one with the prop member disposed for propping the holder body with thelong side uppermost and the other with the prop member disposed forpropping the holder body with the short side uppermost, the holder bodybeing constructed to receive the bottom of the prop insert as close toits end as to its side to locate the prop similarly with respect to thebottom of the body whether the bottom is a short side or a long side.

5. An easel-type display holder, including a holder body longer in oneface dimension than in the face dimension perpendicular thereto, andformed of transparent plastic material folded back along the longersides to provide flanges forming opposed slideways on its rear face, theslots of which extend parallel to the longer dimension, and a propinsert in the slots having an insert base and a prop member extendingtherefrom, the base including four corner portions representing theextreme dimensions of the body portions, both parallel to the bottom ofthe prop member and in the perpendicular direction, with the spacing ofeach corner from both corners adjacent thereto being greater than thedistance between the edge of one flange and the opposite fold and nogreater than the distance between the folds, whereby it is adapted toslide into the slideway with two dispositions, one with the prop memberdisposed for propping the holder body with the long side uppermost andthe other with the prop member disposed for propping the holder bodywith the short side uppermost, the holder body being constructed toreceive the bottom of the prop insert as close to its end as to its sideto locate the prop similarly with respect to the bottom of the/bodywhether the bottom is a shortside or a long side.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,034,621 Jacobus Aug. 6, 1912 1,655,539 Freedman Jan. 10, 19282,456,720 Miles Dec. 21, 1948 2,550,926 Herz May 1, 1951 2,568,178Widder Sept. 18, 1951

